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Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History Audiobook
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Little black dresses. Fake pearls. Jersey knit. Blazers. Ballet flats. Today—and for nearly the last hundred years—we all see some version of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel every time we pass a woman on the street. But few among us realize that Chanel’s role in the events of the twentieth century was as pervasive as her influence on fashion, or how deeply she absorbed and then brilliantly reimagined the historical currents around her. Here, with unprecedented detail and ambition—and through fascinating, thoroughly researched portraits of Chanel’s lovers and friends—Rhonda Garelick shows us the Chanel who conquered the world: a woman who thirsted to create others in her image, who ruthlessly and innovatively borrowed from her famous (and infamous) intimates, who understood the idea of branding and image well ahead of her time, who created “wearable personality.” This is Chanel at the nexus of history: a woman of daring, passion, and legendary vision, in a wonderful biography that gives her long-awaited due.
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“Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel wanted to both hide her life story and to share it, a contradiction that confounded previous potential biographers. In this well-researched and buoyant biography, fashion writer Garelick’s stated goal is to analyze the ‘uncanny historical reach of Coco Chanel’ and the ways in which Chanel’s constant reinvention provides a model for modern women…Garelick deftly situates Chanel in political and cultural history; in addition, the book’s extensive archival sources and new interviews make it a valuable resource for scholars.”
— Publishers Weekly
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“This is the definitive biography of Chanel. It is also the life of one of the most successful world conquerors who has ever imposed her will on a vast subject population. It is gripping, astute, and elegantly written.”
— Judith Thurman, author of the National Book Award–winning Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller -
“In this magisterial, affecting portrait, Rhonda K. Garelick traces Chanel’s history as a woman and as a designer and in doing so illuminates the troubling contradictions of twentieth-century Europe. Her book is a masterwork of original research and psychological nuance, remarkable in combining insight into her subject with insight into modernity entire.”
— Andrew Solomon, author of the National Book Award–winning The Noonday Demon -
“Garelick expertly illuminates the forces that created one of the world’s most iconic brands. Mademoiselle is a fascinating account of the grit as well as the glamour behind the rise of Coco Chanebel.”
— Amanda Foreman, New York Times bestselling author of Georgiana -
“Garelick can convincingly, and engagingly, illuminate a succession of parallels between fashion and politics.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“As this new biography by Rhonda Garelick demonstrates amply, Chanel’s life was as fascinating and richly diverse as it was epoch-making. Already being hailed as the definitive life, Mademoiselle conceals its meticulous research in its flowing narrative.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review -
“Writing an exhaustive biography of Chanel is a challenge comparable to racing a four-horse chariot…This makes the assured confidence with which Garelick tells her story all the more remarkable.”
— New York Review of Books -
“An admiring but evenhanded portrait of Coco Chanel…Though providing no new revelations, Garelick offers a fine psychological portrait of the poor orphaned girl who spent seven years in an abbey, where she learned to sew and feel safety within its reassuring order and cleanliness…Certainly a definitive portrait, especially considering Garelick’s intriguing venture into modern ‘branding.’”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“As Tavia Gilbert leads the listener through Coco Chanel’s countless alliances and conquests, she reveals Coco’s driving ambition and eccentricities…Gilbert elegantly portrays the multitude of Chanel’s wealthy lovers and financial backers, ranging from the Duke of Westminster to a Nazi officer. Gilbert’s smooth pronunciation of French names is melodic but understandable to the American listener, and her consistent pace carries through the author’s complex comparisons of Chanel’s relationships to the politics of her time…[A] vibrant narration.”
— AudioFile -
“A stylish book about style, based on meticulous research and a deep understanding of French culture. Rhonda Garelick tells this extraordinary story with just the right blend of sympathy and judgment, in an utterly readable account.”
— Peter Brooks, author of Reading for the Plot and Henry James Goes to Paris -
“Garelick explores the world of Coco Chanel in intimate—and intricate—detail, revealing the life and times of the woman she astutely describes as ‘understanding how the right labels can govern desire.’ This is a must-have book for followers of fashion and social history devotees alike.”
— Lindy Woodhead, author of War Paint and Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge
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About Rhonda Garelick
Rhonda K. Garelick writes on fashion, performance, art, and cultural politics. Her books include Rising Star: Dandyism, Gender, and Performance in the Fin de Siècle; Electric Salome: Loie Fuller’s Performance of Modernism, and, as coeditor, Fabulous Harlequin: ORLAN and the Patchwork Self. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, New York Newsday, International Herald Tribune, and the Sydney Morning Herald, as well as in numerous journals and museum catalogs in the United States and Europe. She is a Guggenheim fellow and has also received awards from the Getty Research Institute, the Dedalus Foundation, the American Association of University Women, the Whiting Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Garelick received her BA and PhD in comparative literature and French from Yale University.
About Tavia Gilbert
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.